Comparing auto insurance coverage “Accident forgivness”

Kamlesh Desai — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:38:11 +0000

Jack Humpherey: How do I review car insurance coverage of “accident forgivness” when I compare auto insurance quotes for a policy? Please help me in this.

Response: Before you compare auto insurance quotes, it would be best to review car insurance coverage. For this it is necessary to understand what the coverage means. I know that insurance policies are very large and seem to be a jargon to most of us.

Accident forgiveness is mainly a marketing strategy followed by the auto insurance companies. Let me explain how this is a marketing strategy for the car insurance company. Please check the terms properly before you go for this since:

Some companies will only “forgive” the accident which is not your fault. So if someone comes and hits you car from the back, than this accident would not be counted on your record and it would be forgiven. Now you need to understand that in most states the own damage portion is settled by your own insurer.

Some companies will “forgive” the accident which is also your fault. When this clause is added to the policy, it would state that the insurance company is ready to forgive the first-at fault accident of the insured or client in a certain period of time and this time period is normally kept at 3 years- 5 years. This would mean that the insured will not switch auto insurance companies within this time period and secondly, the premium for this is kept slightly higher by certain insurance companies. The personal automobile insurer requires that the client has a clean five year driving record before they consider them eligible for this benefit. In fact here the insurance company is ensuring that they get a good risk since the chances of a driver with a clean record having an accident are very less.

Also some insurance companies would charge you extra for this benefit.

For the client this would mean that the first-at fault accident is forgiven and the accident would not be counted. His car insurance or auto insurance premium will not be higher or hiked in the subsequent year. The slightly higher premium he is paying for this benefit would be much lower than the premium he would have to pay if the accident was considered and he was charged for the same. You need to remember that once you have an accident, even if it is a minor accident your record will be blemished and this clause of “accident forgiveness” would not apply or become null and void. Your policy will be counted as any other risk.

Please consider all factors before you buy your insurance policy. Compare auto insurance quotes and review car insurance coverages, before you go in for your car insurance. A little bit of understanding and precaution is better than paying a higher price for the years to come.

Thanks.

Kamlesh

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Comparing auto insurance coverage “Accident forgivness”